RMS email

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  > I want to ask you what you think about the leak of Windows XP source code
  > that happened last September? The leak happened on 2020-09-24, and it was
  > the XP source along with some previous leaks of other Windows versions
  > (uploaded as a torrent file). That is obviously illegal considering
  > copyright law, but I want to know what you think may be the broader
  > implications of the leak, if any.

I don't know whether it will have any practical effect.  Have you seen any?

  > Do you think that projects such as Wine or ReactOS may indirectly find use
  > for the code through clean-room reverse engineering? I know they say
  > officially that they won't touch the code or even look at it, but I still
  > wonder.

Someone who has the source code doesn't need to do "reverse
engineering".  What someone might do is study the leaked source to
figure out an API description and publish that anonymously.  Maybe
that would enable ReactOS to use the API.  But IANAL.

Depending on details, the leak might cause the secrets in that code
to cease, leally, to be trade secrets.  But that depends on details
of the events, and IANAL.

  > Are leakers of copyrighted source code morally in the right or wrong? Does
  > it depend on the context?

Developing nonfree software for others to run is an injustice.
Typically it is designed to be malware, which is a second injustice.
See https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html
and https://gnu.org/malware/.

In my view its developers are not morally entitled to criticize the
leaking of their source code, just as someone who planned to commit
armed robbery cannot morally complain that someone else thwarted the
plan by swiping the gun.

But it would be hard to find or arrange circumstances where the leak
would actually benefit society or even give the perpetrator an
effective punishment.

  > I just want to start out by saying how grateful I am to you, for your
  > lifelong work of increasing and defending freedom in the IT space. I went
  > to one of your speeches in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2007 and hearing your
  > arguments made me a lifelong proponent of Free Software. Congrats on being
  > back at the FSF.

The FSF is in somewhat of a crisis because of attacks by people who
hate me.  stallmansupport.org explains.

Would you like to show support for the FSF and for me?  We need this
form of help.






--
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)